I Have Returned!

After a very long absence, I have returned!

Life has been insane in the past few months. We lost two more family members, my daughter is currently living back at home due to the most recent death. It's CRAZY!

However, despite it all, I've been writing up a storm. Not my usual fare, but fun nonetheless. I have one out for consideration and am hoping to hear back within the next two weeks. 

Inspiration comes from strange places. While I don't recall where the initial inspiration came from, I've checked daily writing prompts, plot line ideas and the like when my brain goes on hiatus. What do you do when your mind won't produce?

Off to figure out dinner for six instead of the usual four. 

Until later. . .

Keep writing!

Settling Down

Things are finally starting to settle down. The house is coming together, though the garage still has way too many boxes in it, waiting for me to find homes for the contents. 

I'm hoping to eek out some time to write. Are you finding the time you need? It's difficult these days. There are so many other things that demand our attention. 

I'm also not very inspired or motivated. Theoretically, I want to write, but when it comes right down to it, I have nothing much to say. It's a bit depressing. I really need to just sit down and brainstorm and write from that, even if it goes nowhere. At least it gets the juices going and sometimes that's enough to spark something very worthwhile.

What do you do to get ideas that will take flight?

Off to brainstorm.

Until later. . .

Keep writing! 

Yahoo!!!

We're finally moved in. Things are incredibly disorganized but at least we're in the house and can relax a bit while we put things away. Most of the furniture has found its way out of the garage and into its new place, but there are still tons of boxes to open and put away. Still. . . I'm so glad.


Obviously I haven't had much time for writing but maybe now that things will calm down some, I'll be able to eek out more time. I sure hope so!


I hope all of you are writing. It can be such a great release.


Until later. . .


Keep writing!

A Different Kind of Drama

The weekend was crazy! One of my sons was away, so my husband and I took off for his place. Nice and quiet and secluded and..... no kids!!!


We got a bunch of stuff done for the house on Saturday. Saturday night my daughter calls. . . she's been in a rollover. We meet her later at the Sheriff's Dept. Luckily, and amazingly, she wasn't hurt too badly. Bumps and bruises mainly. Her car, on the other hand, is totaled. And of course, being a broke teenager, she had only Liability on it. So. . . she now has no transportation. Luckily she was not driving, her boyfriend was, so it won't destroy her insurance rates when she manages to get another car.


I couldn't believe the state of her car. The only thing not damaged, it seemed, was the hood. The roof was crumpled, the back end looked like she'd be slammed into by a truck. The doors were all damaged. Unreal.


Then last night, we get a call that her grandfather is in the hospital. We're off to see him today after we get paperwork and whatever out of her car.


It was a very long weekend and now a long week ahead. She's home now, for the foreseeable future while we try to figure out her transportation issues. We have 12 days to finish the house and get moved in. We made great progress this weekend so hopefully we'll actually be ready!


Needless to say, no writing was accomplished. Hope you had better luck!

Life has been crazy!

We're just over two weeks from moving and things are really picking up speed.


Finally decided on a paint color for our bedroom. My son and I painted today and we're going back this afternoon to finish that. We are getting the kitchen cabinets this weekend. My plan is for my husband to get padding and put carpet in at least one of the kids' room today. He isn't aware of said plan yet ;)  I'll tell him when he goes to lunch. That way we can finish painting while he does that... and I'll buy him dinner since we won't get home until later than usual and we get up so unbelievably early (3am!!).


Life right now is so very good. I haven't had much time for writing since we've been working like mad to get the place ready to move in to... we have to be in by March 31 since we both refuse to pay another month's rent on my place. I cannot wait to have three fewer bills each month!


I hope you're all inspired and writing. Read an interesting article about writer's block. You can access it here: Breaking the Block.  Hopefully that will spark some ideas to get through that frustrating time.


Until later. . .


Keep writing!

Drama

Are we addicted to drama? Creating it? Dealing with it?


This occurred to me this morning when I woke to find two messages on Facebook. One was sent with the sole purpose of irritating me, the other was in response to drama my daughter has managed to create.


I responded to the second one first, and that has required several phone calls. This is one reason why I hope my daughter never has to move back home! lol


The first message was from another adult, around my age, acting like she is still in high school. It's crazy. My life is settled, I'm happy finally. I've had plenty of drama in my life and frankly, I'm over it. It's discouraging that someone who should be past the need to create problems for others is still doing so. Does she not have enough excitement in her life? Is she so insecure that she needs to throw stones at me? Ridiculous. My answer to her was basically to get over it. 


Then I started thinking, maybe a composite character with some of these traits would make a good "villain" in one of my stories. lol I could combine what I know about all parties involved in both dramas of the day and see what I come up with. It's an intriguing idea and one I will explore after I finish this post.


Where do you get your character's traits? Are they modeled after people you know? Do you step out of your comfort zone to create your characters? How do you make them sound distinct from each other in things such as dialogue? 


Time to hit the keyboard.


Until later. . .


Keep writing!

Entering Contests

How many of you enter writing contests?

I've entered several. Amazon holds their Breakthrough Novel Award each year and I don't think I've missed a year since it started. Made it as far as the quarter-finals one year. That was exciting. Now they're judging the first round on your pitch! That has to be one of the most difficult things to write.

The synopsis is tough as well. How do you pare down an 80K story to a couple of pages? lol A little easier than condensing it to a paragraph but still. . .

Have you participated in NANOWRIMO? What an intense month that is! I've completed it once. Last year I didn't have time since we were closing on the new house and starting renovation. I miss having that type of intensity, but if the idea or the motivation isn't there, it's hard to manage.

I hope all of you are productively writing these days. I'm not so if you are, I must admit, I'm jealous! This blog is about as far as my writing has gone in the past week or so. I did start a new story idea, but haven't had time (or motivation) to carry it very far. I fall asleep thinking about it, plotting it out, starting the opening over and over in my head. I have several pages written, but it needs more!

Perhaps it's time to pull out something old. . . Yes, that's what I'll do this morning. That often inspires me.

Until later. . .

Keep writing!

What a weekend!!

Friday night we got over a foot of snow! It was beautiful, but harmful. Lost many trees, many people lost power. We lost internet (kids were going crazy!) early Saturday morning (like 4am) and just when we figured we were in the clear as far as the power went, it went out. It was 4 pm Saturday.


Luckily my husband still has his little house. We all went there. That was quite an adventure! Sunday morning the power came back on, so home we went. Still no internet or TV, which made things amazingly boring. It didn't come back on until midnight last night.


Didn't get much writing done. Did a bit by hand. Didn't even want to be on the computer. Started a new afghan because the pattern was already downloaded and saved ;) Always good to think ahead.


Today I have about a million errands. Gotta change my name and address on my driver's license. Need to change my name and address at the bank ~ get a new debit card, order new checks. Grocery shopping, always a joy ;)  Also want to go to the new house and clean up all the drywall dust so we're ready to paint the bathroom. It's all coming together nicely. Now we just need to finish removing cabinets in the kitchen and put new ones in. Then it's time to lay the carpet, the ceramic tiles in the kitchen and dining room and paint. It'll be all ready for us to move in :) So excited about that!!!


Hope everyone has been inspired and motivated. I haven't been much, but I still have loads of hope for you ;)


Until later. . .


Keep writing!

New Beginning, New Story

I'm happy to report that the writing bug has bitten yet again :)


The motivation wells have been dry as of late, but today they are overflowing. Oftentimes, I am unable to write when I'm happy, but I find this is not the case today. I'm writing by hand, which is not my typical MO, but I find it easier to express myself when I'm not staring at a blank screen. There's just something satisfying about filling page after page with words. My handwriting is not anywhere near as neat as it used to be, since I don't use it as much. 


Writing, actually penning something, seems to be a lost art with all the technology available these days. Kids aren't even taught cursive anymore! How are they going to sign their names? My kids mainly print. It's sad. On the other hand, they can't read cursive either, so my husband and I can leave each other notes that are only decipherable by the two of us ;) I suppose that is a benefit.


I hope all of you are finding the motivation and inspiration you need to get your writing going. 


Until later. . .


Keep writing!

Marriage Rocks!

So yesterday Ken and I married. It has been true bliss! We "honeymooned" at his place, because there were NO kids. His mom put up balloons and scattered candy all over the tables. She developed the photos from the wedding before we even got there. So very sweet.

Today we're back to reality, home with the kids, etc. It's still so much fun. Looking forward to the future so much.

Writing has taken a back seat, but I'll be back to it very soon :)

Until later. . .

Keep writing! (and write for me while you're at it ;) )

Saturdays Rock!

I'm so glad it's the weekend! Normally we'd be working on the house today but Ken has to work so that frees up my morning. Hopefully I'll get some writing done. Wedding preparations are almost complete. Just a bit of shopping left to do but since it's snowing (again!!), I won't do it today. I hope to expand the idea I have for a novel or possibly develop a new one. That's always exciting.

I'm also working on a knitting project, which makes it tough to decide where to spend my time ;)

Inspiration has been lacking lately, or perhaps it's motivation that isn't there. I hope to recapture it today :)

Hope all of you are writing productively.

Until later. . .

Keep writing!

Finding time to write

Do you have this problem? Life gets so busy sometimes, it may be difficult to carve out the time to expand that story or brainstorm ideas. That's what's happening now with me. Today I'm shopping for things for the wedding but I plan to make time this afternoon to write.

We always have to make that ever-important time to pursue our craft.

Until later. . .

Keep writing!

One Week!!

We've moved the wedding up a couple of months. Now it's on Tuesday :) :) :)

We informed family yesterday and this morning so we're dealing with that fall out ;)

We're super excited. The kids are excited. My eldest son might be more excited than we are.

Now we will only have to worry about the house and getting it ready instead of trying to plan a wedding too. Instead, we'll have another ceremony (in the church) and reception this summer.

Hope everyone is having a productive writing day.

Until later. . .

Keep writing!

Mid-week Blahs

Do you have them? Do they interfere with your writing? How do you combat them?


Every day I work on motivation. Setting aside time to write, finding something to write about, keeping focus. Sometimes it's tough. Sometimes it's easy and the ideas flow and time flies and I find I've been writing for hours without even realizing it. That is such a great feeling! That's what I strive for each and every day.


My plan for today is to write, but I also have other projects I'm working on and they're stealing time away. This is when motivation kicks in. If I don't make myself write, carve out time from the other activities, I won't do it. I can almost always find something else to do when I'm unmotivated and uninspired. I have new ideas, but starting is tough. You'd think, with all these great ideas percolating, it would be easy, but that blank page. . . sometimes it's intimidating. And sometimes finding the beginning is hard. 


So don't. Start in the middle. Start at the end and write back. Whatever works. Maybe you won't be able to use the scenes later, and maybe you will. But when you write, other ideas come. It is just the way it work. One idea spins off another and while sometimes it carries your story in another, unexpected, direction, go with it!


Now, get to that keyboard and WRITE.


Until later. . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

Inspired by love? I have been recently. Getting married in a little over two months and we're still trying to figure out the wedding lol. 


What inspires you? Do you use events from your own life? From a friend's? Sometimes sitting in a cafe gives you some interesting dialogue inspirations. You can learn a lot from listening. 


What are the best places you've found for inspiration?


Until later. . . 


Keep writing!

A Good Weekend

It has been a great weekend.


Got some much needed writing done yesterday and this morning, plus some even more needed work done on the new house. Looks like we're on target to move in by the end of next month. :)


My inspiration has come from several sources. Some came from reading, some from watching movies, which I don't normally do while writing, but the kids wanted to watch something so. . .


I'm in such a happy mood today :)


Have a wonderful weekend, what's left of it.


Until later. . .


Keep writing!

Success!!!

After posting the previous entry, I went to a couple Writer's Digest articles and wow! I found inspiration!

I've made copious notes on index cards as well as word documents and have started the first page. I can't wait to write more tomorrow!

Writer's Digest has some great articles. Check it out! www.writersdigest.com

Happy writing!

Tuesday: and the writing process continues

So, I must admit, I've been quite lax in the writing department the last couple of days. Yesterday my writing consisted of making lists. Exciting, isn't it?

Today I'm exploring an idea for a new story. I hope it's one that will carry across several hundred pages. I haven't been terribly motivated or inspired as of late, but I'm hoping that will change. I think I'll just "brainstorm" for a while, see where it takes me. How do you come up with ideas? Do you get many from newspaper stories? That's the next thing I plan to do. Our small town doesn't really have very much excitement, so I'll have to buy something like the Detroit Free Press. We'll see what that has to offer!

I'll keep you updated as to whether this idea works. I'm crossing my fingers!

Have a great Tuesday!

Until later...

Keep writing!

Sunday Morning Musings

Good morning!

I didn't get as much done yesterday as I wanted to, but that's okay because it's a new day!

How do you grab and keep your reader's attention? Is it your first line? Your first paragraph? First chapter? Do you keep conflict and tension high through every scene? It doesn't mean there has to be constant conflict. That would be too tiring. But there should be internal conflict, always something at stake if whatever action is happening doesn't work.

What are some of your favorite first lines from your own work? Think about those, figure out what type of message you're sending and then go back and look at some first lines that didn't make your list. How can you make them better? More interest-grabbing? Once you've done that, take a good look at the first paragraph, figure out what works and what doesn't add anything and remove the excess. Do this throughout the first scene, the first chapter, etc, until your story is wrought with tension and conflict.

Then all you have to do is have a compelling story, with characters your readers care about, and you have it made. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? Reality is, it takes A LOT of work. Pounding out the first draft is so much easier for some than where it goes from there. The editing and revision process can (and often does) take longer than writing the novel!

Good luck with your writing, editing and revising!

Until later...

Keep writing!

Happy Saturday!

And a good morning to all!


Today is a writing day. If you check out some of the ridiculous headlines shown on the google news bar, you can get all sorts of ideas for stories. Where else do you get ideas? 


I wrote of dreams the other day and can you believe that since then I've had NONE I could remember upon waking? It's like I jinxed myself! However, the ideas come other ways so that's all right. Even when it seems like your imagination has run dry (could that ever really happen??), it takes but a small spark to reignite it. Never lose hope!


It's very disappointing when you've come up with a terrific lead idea and you write and write and write, only to find it peters out, that you don't have enough to sustain it for 80,000 + words. It feels like you've wasted all that time. However, is any time spent writing really a waste? You're thinking about word choices, about the best, most economical way of expressing an idea. . . and that is never a waste. You're honing your craft! And those days you feel you have "writer's block"? Just write about any old thing, say the experts. Any writing is better than no writing, even if you never use it for anything. Most experts say, however, that even from that you may be able to glean an idea or two down the road. Moral of that story? Don't throw anything out, no matter how bad you think it is. Make a separate folder and stick it in there. One day you may go back and read through them and find your gem!


I hope everyone has a productive day, whatever you're doing.


Until later...


Keep writing!

Another Early Morning

It doesn't bother me a bit to get up in the middle of the night. I find I'm much more productive when it's quiet. Too bad my children don't understand that ;)

Usually I start out by checking Facebook and Twitter. Yes, I'm guilty of playing a couple games on FB, which takes a little time first thing. Then I go over any statuses that might be interesting or even spark writing ideas, especially those crazy headlines.

It doesn't take long before I'm hard at work, either thinking of something to write on here or expanding a story idea. I worked for several days on one such idea only to realize about 10K words in that it wasn't "big" enough to fill a novel. That's been shelved for now, but who knows? It may spark either a new idea or something to deepen it may occur to me. I rarely just delete that much writing. I save it in a special folder and every now and then go back and review what's in there.

Sometimes, if I suffer from "writer's block" I go back and revise/edit completed novels. If I really don't want to write, if the motivation is completely absent, I read. I don't seem to finish books as fast as in the past, either from lack of time or something else, which is good because that means I have more to read :) I used to run out of books way too fast. Not these days.

Between the renovations on our new house (so we can move in sooner), planning our wedding (April 28, 2012) and making sure the kids get their schoolwork done, sometimes there's precious little time left to write. The next couple months will be busy around here, but like you, I carve out time to expand those ideas.

When do ideas usually occur to you? I'm guilty of coming up with them while I'm driving. I used to keep a notebook in my car so I could jot them down, but now I just stop somewhere and store them in my phone. Gotta love those smartphones! :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Until later...

Keep writing and sparking those ideas!

Updated Links

Hello everyone!

I have updated most of the links to my previously published stories. I have the two published in (out of print) books on another computer and unfortunately that is disabled right now.

I'm curious about your dreams. Do you remember them when you wake? How long do they stay in your mind? Do you write them down when you wake? Have you used the dream as a springboard for a story? Most of the time I don't get new ideas from dreams, but sometimes they solve a plot problem I'm having. As far as I'm concerned, dreams are invaluable!

I hope you're all having a productive day.

Until tomorrow...

Keep writing!

An Early Wednesday

Woke up really early this morning, ready to get started. I had many ideas last night, then ran out of time to develop them. Luckily I wrote them down so I'll explore them today :)

I have listed some of my work, which have found homes in various publications, but some are out of print, so I'm going to post them on separate pages. Hopefully I'll have those done today.

I was actually inspired by doing some of the exercises in this article http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/improve-my-writing/conflict-suspense-excerpt There is quite a bit of excellent information in this article. Give it a read, maybe it'll inspire you :)

I may check in later today. If not... have a great one and hope inspiration strikes you.

Until later...

Good morning!

Yesterday we had the most spectacular weather. It was 48 degrees, unheard of for January 31! Today it won't be quite as warm, but it will still be above freezing. Gotta love it!


Today is a work day. Hopefully I'll kick out some decent work on this novel. If not, at least I'm writing. I'm somewhat lacking inspiration but not motivation. I think I'll end up pulling out something older and unfinished and seeing what it needs. Sometimes that sparks an idea or two.


What inspires you? 

Welcome

As a writer, I know how important inspiration can be... and without it, how much more difficult it is to write.

My goal with this blog is to serve up some inspiration as well as interesting discussions from all walks of life.

While I realize this is an election year, I'll try to keep politics out of it.

As readership grows, I hope to add prompts to get you motivated or perhaps to strike an idea or two.

Thanks for reading.

Until tomorrow...